Money counting machine



June 11, 1935.

E.. FHSCHNEIADER MONEY COUNTIFNG MCHINE Filed May 15, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet l June l1, 1935. E. PfscHNl-:DER 2,004,835

MONEY COUNTING MACHINE Y Filed May 15, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Chl/1444118.

Patented June 1l, 1935 UNITED `vSTATES PATENT oFFlcl;

Claims.

The invention relates to money counting machines and has for itsobjectsto-provide ycertain new and useful improvements in machines for countingbills or paper currency.

An important object .of the invention is to provide positive means foryinsuring against the 1reception of more than one bill at a timeby thefeeding mechanism which latter in turn actuates the counting mechanismof the machine.

By this invention an unintentional or attempted insertion of more thanone bill at a time to the feeding mechanism lresults in a reversal ofthe feed in vsuch manner fas to return the plurality of bills to theoperator and thus preclude their passage to the receiving receptacle.

A further and important object resides in the provision of means formaterially reducing Wear in the accurately ground feeding rolls, withattendant prolongation of useful service without adjustment or repair,as Well as greatly minimizing if not entirely eliminating theobjectionable noise of operation heretofore incident to machines of thischaracter.

A further and important object is the installation of a properly locatedvout-out whereby a bill having a hole or damp spot near its'center isprevented vfrom registering twice, the dampspot beingcaused by theoperator wetting his fingers on a sponge in the customary way of moneycounters. This difficulty vhas been present in former machines in whichthe vbill interrupted an electric circuit normally established betweenthe feed rolls,for the purpose of registering the passage of the bill. Y

1n money counting machines of thegeneral nature to'which the presentimprovements are directed, as shown for example in U. S. Patents1,328,263, 1,803,624 and 1,839,973, a pair of contacting positivelydriven rfeed-rollers are positioned to receive the bills or currency tobe counted and carry the same successively yto a suitable receptaclelocated below and in the rear of the feed rollers. vIn their passagethrough the feeding mechanism each bill breaks the circuit and. actuateselectricall means such as a relay which in turn actuates a countingdevice positioned on the machine within convenient view of the operator.In these machines it has been the practice to position the upper andlower feed rollers normally in contact with one another and when themotor is energized there results objectionable noise in operation andundesirable wear on the delicately ground feed rollers when no currencyis being counted by the machine. It has further been the practice toprovide means for automatically stopping the machine when two 0r moresuperimposed bills are fed to the rollers. The adjustment has been suchas to close an electrical circuit and immediately stop the machine,preferably by means of abrake under such inadvertence on the part of theoperator. Furthermore, in machines of the characterfstated the countingdevice actuatedbya relay suitably placed in circuit with the Idrivingimotor which relay operates when the circuit is broken to actuate thecounting device for a single op'- eration. The normally closedcircuit'has been heretofore obtained by means of a spring or brushnormally bearing again-stthe lower "feed roll, on each side ofthe upperfeed roll, which normal contact of the brushes is broken by theinsertion' of ythe billv between the feed rollers. f

This manner of operation is objectionable vbecause arcing occurs at thefeed roller when the current is broken to actuate the relay and countingdevice. This arcing in time corrodes and pits the nely ground and.delicately'adjusted lower feed roller with consequent 'deleteriouseffects in successful operation of the machine. .By this invention anypossibility of objectionable arcing between the feeding rollers iscompletely eliminated.

' The present invention completely obviatesand removes all of the abovedescribed vdisadvantages and objectionable features heretofore 'found1inherent in machines of this character, and apositively kaccurate andoperable machine'iis `olbtained which is admirably suited 'for presentday needs, as in banks or the 'like, where there is occasion for thesorting and counting 'of paper currency.

With such objects in View, as well .as vother advantages `which may-beincident to the use of the improvements, the invention consists in theuse of the parts and combinations thereof :hereinafter set forth andclaimed, with the understanding that the several `necessary I'elementsconstituting the same rmay be varied in proportions vand arrangementwithout departing from the nature and scope of the invention.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood there are shownin the accompanying drawings means 'for carrying the same into practicaleffect, without limiting the :improvements, in their usefulapplications, to the vparticular constructions which, for the purposevof explanation, have been made the subject 'of 'illustration.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a'portion of a machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 Fig. l.

f Fig. 3 is `a front elevation vof the vstructure lustrated in Fig. 1. lj

Fig. 4 is a wiring-.diagram illustrating the 'several electricalcircuits embodied in the machine and automatically actuated control..devices therefor. l

' Referring to the drawings, l indicates kthev as by brackets 2, a shaft3 extending transversely of the frame at the front portion thereof. Theshaft 3 is driven by an electric motor 4` (Fig. 4) suitably attached tothe machine and directly driving said shaft through the medium of Iabelt 5 engaging a pulley 6 secured to the shaft 3.

The frame I is provided with a plurality of aligned compartments 1designed for the reception of sorted paper currency or 4bills ofvarious` kinds or denominations and each compartment is provided with ahinged bottom 8 and a separate feeding and counting mechanismconstructed, arranged and operated in accordance with the presentinvention. Since the mechalnism is identical in construction andoperation for each compartment, only one of said ,compartments and themechanism associated therewith has Vbeen illustrated and will bedescribed. The money is received by the compartment 1 after the same haspassed through the feeding mechanism and is recorded by the countingdevice. Suitable means (not shown) are provided on the machine fordumping the compartment after a certain number of counted bills isreceived there- Thefeeding mechanism for each compartment of the machineincludes a lower feed roller 9 fixed on the shaft 3 to rotate therewith,said feed roller having a central portion I of accurately ground toolsteel or the like and outwardlyl tapered end sections II preferablyconstructed of aluminum. Such construction imparts a U shape to the billand insures proper stackingof same when fed longitudinally to thefeeding mechanism. A feed table I2 including end supports I3 is mountedas by integral lugs I4 on the bracket 2. An intermediate sheetV or plateof celluloid I5 or other material with antifrictional properties havinga downwardly flexed orconcave central portion, is carried by or securedbetween the end supports I3 of the feed table I2 for receiving andsupporting currency to be fed to thef machine.

An upper feed roller I6 is fixed 'on a shaft I1, the ends of said shaftbeing journaled in depending bracket members I8 of a rollersupportingmember or lever I9 pivotally mounted at its rear end at 2Dbetween ears 2I of a depending bracket member 22 in turn secured as byscrews 23 to a rearwardly extending lug 24 of the bracket member 2. Theupper feed roller I6 with its supporting lever I9 is mounted for slightpivotal movement on vthe bracket member 22, and the supporting lever hassecured thereto at its forward end a projecting plate 25. A verticallyextending pin 26 projects through an aperture in the plate and isadjustably mounted relative thereto by means of upper and lower setscrews 21-21. The upper end of the pin 26 normally contacts with oneendof a substantially horizontal lever 28 pivotally mounted at 29betweenears of a bracket 30 which is secured to a forwardly extending lug 3l ofthe bracket 2. The opposite end of the lever 28 is normally urgedupwardly by means of an adjustable'` spring pressed pin 32 slidablyretained in a housing 33 secured to the bracket 2. The tendency of thespring pressed pin 32 is to maintain contact between the opposite end ofpivoted lever 28and the vertically extending adjustable pin 26 carriedby the plate 25. The lever I9 and the roll I 6 carried thereby normallytend to swing downwardly toward the lower feed roller 9 and means areprovided for obtaining an adjustable spacing of these rollers and toprevent their contact with one another at any time. The normal tendencyof the lever `I9 and roll I6 to swing downwardly may be by the influenceof gravity or if desired a suitably disposed spring 30-a -may beprovided for the purpose. This spaced relation of the rolls is theintended and normal arrangement of the mechanism. To this end I providea downward and inwardly extending ear 34 on the lower end of the bracketmember 30, which ear carries a vertically disposed set screw 35 securedin adjusted position by means of a lock nut. This set screw is engagedby the forwardly projecting plate 25 of pivoted lever I9 and limitsdownward movement of said lever on its pivot relative to the lower feedroller 9. By adjusting the said set screw any desired spacing betweenthe feed rollers 9 and. I6 may be obtained. Since the opposed faces oftheupper and lowerl feed rollers are constructed of accurately machinedand ground tool steel, I have found that prolonged successful operationof the machine is obtained by maintaining a normal spacing between saidrollers of one-thousanth of an inch.. Since the thickness of the averagebill is about three and one-halfV thousandths, the insertion of 'a billbetween the rollers will result inthe upperv roller being displacedupwardly about the pivot 20, and sufficiently by reason of the locationof said pivot', to actuate the relay and counting mechanism to bedescribed.

One outer end ofthe horizontally pivoted lever 28 has secured thereto ablock of insulating ma-` terial 36 which supports at `its lower end apair of electrically connected substantially parallel and horizontallydisposed upper'and lower spring contact members or leaves 31 and 38. Acontact member 39 provided on the upper leaf 31 is adapted to normallyengage an upper contact member 40 carried by a plate member 4I securedto the forward bracket member 2 and insulated therefrom by a block 42. Acontact member 43 is also provided on the lower leaf'm'ember 38 and isnormally spaced from a lower contact 44 adjustably mountedin a platemember 45 also secured to the `forward frame member 2 and insulatedtherefrom by said insulating block or member 42.

With particular reference to Fig. 4, when the machine is in operationand when no `bills or currency are being fed to the feeding mechanism,the shaft` 3 and the lower feed roll 9 are rapidly rotated at a speed ofapproximately '100 R. P. M'. by the electric'motor 4. Under theseconditions the motor 4 is energized by means of anY electric currentpassing Vfrom the positive side of a source of direct current, such 'asa line wire 4G, through wire 41, series connected eld windings 48 andwire 49 back to the negative sides of saidsource, such as aline wire 50.Also, the armature winding ris energized by virtue of an' electriccurrent passing from the positive line wire 46 through wires 5I, 5I,switcharm 52, contact 53,'wire 54,

-brush 55 'of motor 4, windingof armature 56,

brush 51 and wire 5B back to negative lead wire An electric circuit 'isalso established whichA passes from positive lead wire 46, through wire59, winding of 'counter relay 60, wire 6I, upper contact 40, lowercontact 39, arm 31 and wires' 62 and 63 to negativelead wire 50.

Under theseconditions the motor 4 rotates in a direction to rotate thelower feed roll 9 to feed bills to the machine and also the counterrelay 60 is energized ,to4 maintain a counter relayswitch i6! openagainst the action of a spring 65, thereby maintaining the magneticallyoperated counter 66 in a die-energized condition.

` When a single bill is inserted between' the feed rolls the upper rollis forced upwardly to rock horizontally pivoted lever 28 downwardly asufficient distance to open the normally closed upper contact members 38and 46 but insufficiently to close thenormally open` lower contactmembers 43 and 44. The insertion of a single bill thus opens the circuithereinbefore traced of the counter relay and permits the switch 64 toclose under the action. of the spring 65. This completes a circuit forthe magnetically operated counter mechanism, passing from positive leadWire 46 through wires 59 and 61, switch 64, wire 46B, winding ofmagnetically actuated counter 6G and wire 63 to negative lead wire El!which ener gizes the counter and to register a single bill. As soon asthe bill passes rearwardly from between thc feed rolls 9 and I6 thespring pressed plunger 32 (Fig. 3) swings the lever 28 upwardly andcloses the upper contacts 39 and 40 thus reestablishing the circuit forthe counter relay E0 .and opening the switch 64.

The insertion of a plurality of bills between the upper and lower feedrolls, results in the former roll being moved upwardly as during normaloperation thus opening the upper contacts 39 and 4D, but the increasedthickness of said bills moves the upper feed roll a greater distance,thereby obtaining an increased throw of the horizontally pivoted leversufficiently to close the lower contact members 43 and 44. This closingof the lower contact members occurs as soon as the ends of a pluralityof bills are inserted simultaneously between the feed rolls and bringsinto play the relay mechanism for reversing the motor.

When the lower contact members 43 and 44 are thus closed an electriccircuit is estab-lished passing vfrom positive lead wire 46' (Fig. 4)through wires 5l, Sla, switch 52, winding of motor relay 59, Wire lll,lower contact 44, lower movable contact 43, arm 38 and wires 62 and 63to negative lead wire 59. This energizes the motor relay 69 and causesit to open to dotted position the switch 52 and to close a switch 'Hagainst the action of a spring 'l2 as indicated by dotted lines. Theopening of switch 52 interrupts the circuit previously traced for thewinding of armature 56 but re-cnergizes this winding by a current ofreverse polarity which traverses a circuit passing from positive leadwire 46, wires 5l, 5in, switch 1I, wire 13, brush 14, winding ofarmature 56,brush 'l5 and wire T5 to negative lead wire 50. The reversalof the polarity of the winding of armature 56 reverses the direction ofrotation of motor 4 to cause the lower feed roll 9 in turn to reverseits direction of rotation to immediately and forcibly eject theplurality of bills from the machine toward the operator.

As soon as the billsare thus ejected from the machine the upper roll I6resumes its` normal position, thereby re-establishing the circuitshereinbefore described so as to again reverse the d1-A rection ofrotation of motor 4 to that of normal operating conditions, i. e, motorand lower feed roll rotating in a direction to again feed bills betweenrolls 9 and I6. It will be noted that when a plurality of bills areintroduced between the feedroll 9 and I6 as above described, the openingof the upper contacts 39 and 40 will actuate the magnetically operatedcounter 66 to register a single bill, notwithstanding the fact that nobill is introduced to the machine. To compensate for such undesiredactuation the operator deposits one bill in the compartment behind thefeed rolls and proceeds as before to feed the billsone at a time and asrapidly as desired to the feeding mechanism. The automatic rejection oftwo bills inadvertently inserted returns the switch contacts to normalposition, i. e. upper switch closes and lower switch opens, whichcle-energizes the motor relay with consequent reversal of polarity inthe motor armature circuit, thus obtaining the consequent reversal ofkthe motor to rotate the lower main feed roll of the shaft in thedesired direction as under normal operatu ing conditions. The relaymechanism is capable of adjustmentto permit the insertion of the billsone immediately following another so that the operator does not have topurposely feed the bills at a moderate to prevent error. The adjustmentof the electrically operated relay devices is such as to insure accurateactuation of the mechanism by the insertion of each bill no matter howfast said bills are fed to the machine.

In the 'illustrated and described embodiment of the invention areversible D. C. motor has been used. It will be obvious however, thatother motors which are capable of being reversed may be used withnecessary variations in circuit wiring, without `departing from theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Ina machine of the character desc1-ibcdthe combination of a bodilymovable roll for feeding paper money to the machine, means for rotatingsaid roll, and means actuated by the bodily movement of said roll causedby the insertion of a plurality of bills of paper money for reversingthe direction of rotation of said roll to reject the said bills from themachine.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a bodilymovable roll` for feeding bills to the machine, means for rotating saidroll, and means actuated by the bodily movement of said roll when aplurality of bills are partially inserted, for reversing the directionof rotation of said roll rotating means to reject said bills fromcontact with said roll.

3, In a machine of the character described, the combination of a bodilymovable roll for feeding bills to the machine, a. motor for rotatingsaid roll, and` means actuated by the bodily movement of saidrollcccasioned by the partial insertion of a plurality of bills, forreversing the direction of rotation of said motor and said roll toreject said bills from the machine.

4, In a machine of the character described the combination of a pair ofradially spaced rolls for feeding bills to the machine, one of saidrolls being bodily movable, a reversible motor for rotating one of saidrolls, and electrical means actuated kby said movable roll upon theinsertion of a plurality of bills for reversing the direction ofrotation of said motor to obtain a reverse rotation of said roll toprevent the entry of said bills to the machine.

5. In a money Acounting machine, wherein an electrically operatedcounting device is combined with apair of rolls adapted to feed bills tobe registered by said counting device, one of said rolls being bodilyvmovable to actuate said counting device: the combination of an electriccircuit, a reversible motor in said circuit for rotating one of saidfeeding rolls, andan electric relay device in said circuit adapted to beenergized by the movement of said bodily movable roll for reversing thenormal direction of rotation of said mo-

